Prior art apparatus for dispensing controlled amounts of liquid into receptacles which include means for loading and stripping pipette tips from the apparatus have been known for some time. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,670 discloses an apparatus for dispensing controlled amounts of liquid that includes means for loading disposable pipette tips onto fluid loading/dispensing cylinders and maintaining a positive pressure load on the tips during introduction of the liquid into the pipette tips and dispensing of the fluid. The positive pressure provides a liquid seal between the pipette tips and the cylinders during operation of the apparatus. The pressure is then released to break the seal and remove the pipette tips from the apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,622,578 B2 discloses an apparatus for aspirating and dispensing controlled amounts of liquid from a solid dispense block which includes means for loading pipette tips designed for sealing on its outside means into internal cylinders contained within the dispense block. The dispense block includes a solid block of material having a plurality of internal cylinders to engage and seal the pipette tips. The pipette tips are modified from their conventional design to include a disc-shaped ring portion adjacent to one end of the pipette tip.
Although these prior art apparatus could be used to transfer pipette tips from one location to another without using the pipette tips for dispensing controlled amounts of liquid, such as when transferring new pipette tips from a new pipette tip storage box to an empty tray carrier, these apparatus would be overly cumbersome and inefficient to use. Accordingly, there is a need for a simple, portable, cost-effective apparatus that can transfer pipette tips from one location to another, and that can transfer pipette tips from one location to another while maintaining them in a predetermined alignment configuration.